As a result they were 24-3 down at half time against a much bigger side but came back tremendously well.
Gateshead were rocking in the closing moments and a converted try in the last minute brought the game back to just a two point margin. The Ref announced there were three minutes left and we thought we could do it. But then he told Gateshead that when the ball went dead after the restart that would be it.
Not unnaturally their scrum half belted the kick straight into touch. "Not on" said the ref who awarded West a penalty from the penalty spot. If this the Zurich Premiership the penalty would have been kicked but instead we had to run it and, despite a brave forward charge, we couldn't manage it. But surely the lads would have won if they had had a full side.